


Me and My Shadow

by Stariceling



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M, Misuse of Special Techniques
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-07-18
Updated: 2007-07-18
Packaged: 2017-12-05 19:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/726889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stariceling/pseuds/Stariceling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shikamaru asks Lee to help him with a new take on his best technique, but he has something extra up his sleeve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Me and My Shadow

Of course, by telling him it was ‘training’ he had gotten Lee’s attention instantly. Shikamaru almost felt bad for deceiving him, until Lee tried to suggest that Asuma-sensei might be a better choice. It seemed that to Lee teachers knew all when it came to training. That or he thought Shikamaru would crave praise and recognition from his sensei the same way he did. But no, there was something Shikamaru wanted far more than praise and only Lee could give it to him.

He hadn’t expected suspicion when he told Lee that it had to be him, and Lee hadn’t let him down. Though the way Lee clasped his shoulders, his eyes tearing with joy, as he swore he would do anything to help had made Shikamaru feel oddly guilty. It did have to be Lee, but he hadn’t exactly told Lee the reason why. Lee hadn’t even asked why Shikamaru wanted to do his ‘training’ in private. He had simply been excited to see such an impressive secret technique.

So now he had Lee before him, looking serious and ready, and oddly innocent in Shikamaru’s mind. He had never even asked what Shikamaru intended to do. He had simply assumed it would be amazing, even when Shikamaru tried to stem his enthusiasm by telling him it was only a different application of an old technique. Well, Lee would be finding out soon enough.

Shikamaru took a slow, deep breath, trying to concentrate. He wanted it to be Lee, so he couldn’t let the sight of Lee standing across from him, practically bouncing on his heels, distract him. He formed the sign with his hands, and in his mind. Lee had placed himself at quite a convenient range. Shikamaru had expected as much from him. He was used to close-range combat after all. That, and he was apparently too polite to force Shikamaru to come leaping about after him the way he would have in a real encounter, at least for the first run.

“The art of me-and-my-shadow!” In a moment his shadow stretched obediently to reach Lee. For a second he thought the other boy would leap away and give him a chase after all, but his shadow caught Lee’s before the he could make up his mind to be difficult.

For a second it was no different than every other time he had performed the technique. Lee was caught for a moment, but then again, so was he. Shikamaru closed his eyes, knowing Lee wasn’t about to go anywhere. They were connected by more than his shadow, and if he could just pull on the web his technique wrapped around Lee. . .

Nothing happened for a second. Then, as if he was tugging a puppet along by the strings, he started to pull Lee, until he felt Lee’s moves mirror his own. He had to move slowly because Lee was a solid and heavy puppet, and the strings he had to work with were only thin strands of chakra-wrapped shadow. Still, as he took a careful step forward, he felt Lee’s body mimic his.

To make Lee’s left foot swing forward in time with his was enough to prove it was possible to manipulate his target, no matter what a troublesome debt of time and training it would take. That might have been enough of a victory under other circumstances, but it was not what he wanted right now. There was still a reason he had wanted Lee for this exercise, after all.

Shikamaru took another step, watching as Lee did the same. This time he actually felt a shiver through his whole body which had to be Lee fighting his technique. He paused again, but Lee only seemed to be testing his control. He wasn’t fighting wildly. The push had only been an experiment as he tried to shift his body out of time with Shikamaru’s.

As long as Lee was playing along and not actively trying to fight him off, Shikamaru would take it as a signal that it was okay for him to continue. He shifted forward again, watching Lee’s strained movements mirror his step for step.

It seemed to take an eternity before they were standing less than a step apart. Shikamaru was sweating with the effort of moving Lee by that time. He would have asked Lee to start closer if he had known it would be so much trouble to move him. Lee however, was grinning at him, as if he was proud of the new skill Shikamaru had shown him. Shikamaru could feel his mouth being tugged to mimic Lee’s grin, but that wasn’t the only thing that made him smile back. It was nothing like the fleetingly proud smiles he received from his sensei. It made Shikamaru’s heart beat fast, in spite of all good sense.

He was close enough to touch Lee, and for Lee to touch him. So he did, reaching forward to place his left hand on Lee’s waist. He felt an odd little thrill when he had Lee’s hand on him in return, even though he knew Lee was only mirroring him. He had to take a second and get himself calmed down again before he could continue. He would lose Lee if he was distracted, especially with Lee testing his control again.

With his right hand Shikamaru cupped Lee’s cheek, again feeling Lee’s hand on him in return. He waited, his heart beating fast, for Lee to test his control as he had after every move Shikamaru had made so far. Instead he was only staring, confused by what Shikamaru was having him do.

Was it okay? Lee might not forgive him for this, but he was too close to let go now. It had been easy enough to maneuver Lee into the place he needed this one time, but it might prove impossible to convince him to walk willingly into this trap ever again.

Shikamaru tiled his head a tiny bit to the left, feeling as much as seeing Lee do the same. He inched closer, so close now after all of the trouble he had gone to, and realized even their breathing had become synchronized.

And when he moved forward to kiss Lee, he had to remind himself that he couldn’t expect Lee to kiss him back. Feeling Lee passively mimic his movements. . . it wasn’t quite what he had expected, but it was so much better than nothing at all. He thought Lee might be in shock, because he wasn’t making the slightest effort to resist. He was apparently frozen, his body moving only under Shikamaru’s direction.

The second he felt Lee push back against the jutsu that was wrapped around his body, Shikamaru let him go.

Lee yanked his head back, breaking the kiss. He stared at Shikamaru for a few seconds, breathing hard. Shikamaru was ready to have Lee sock him for his trouble. He had more than earned the right to retaliate, and if he regained his pride now Shikamaru didn’t think Lee would be quite as furious with him afterward.

“That was cheating!”

Shikamaru took his hands away from Lee, trying to sort out what he meant by that. ‘Cheating’ had not entered into his calculations of all the reasons why Lee would be angry with him.

“Please do not do that again.” Lee commanded, gripping Shikamaru’s waist hard. Shikamaru nodded mutely. Lee’s action didn’t seem to be the lead-in to any sort of attack, but the idea that Lee was going to use his grip pull Shikamaru closer after that wasn’t very likely either.

Then Lee kissed him again, firmly, and everything became clear. Or at least, it would have if the feeling of Lee kissing him enthusiastically wasn’t making his mind go blank. Shikamaru had never planned on anything more than that one passive kiss, and Lee was anything but passive.

At the very least, ‘cheating’ suddenly made sense. If Lee had wanted to do this as well, though Shikamaru hadn’t thought there was a high enough probability of that for him to depend on, then of course he was irritated at being tricked into it.

About there logic gave out under the feeling Lee’s lips working against his. Wet and hard, the taste of Lee’s mouth was making it difficult to think. Ordinarily he might have been trying to change his strategy to include this new information, but with the feeling of Lee’s tongue exploring between his lips all of his plans became extraneous. There was no need to maneuver Lee into something he seemed to want anyway.

Resting his arms limply around Lee’s shoulders, Shikamaru simply let himself be kissed. He was tired out just from keeping his cool while he maneuvered Lee, and Lee obviously had plenty of energy to spend in kissing him senseless.


End file.
